Different Frames
by tanglingshadows
Summary: What could have happened after "Alone"...
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! This a series of three one-shots that have nothing to do with the other.

I was part of the Bethyl Secret Santa Exchange, and I just couldn't decide what to write, so I wrote all three :)

These are for you, bethgreening!

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><p><span><strong>Flicker<strong>

They had been at the funeral home for a few weeks, waiting for someone to come back and tell them to get the hell out, but no one ever came. He hated that he was starting to feel settled into a place, but it was hard not to with Beth moving stuff out of rooms and making it look like a home instead of a what it really was.

Ever since that night he had tried to tell her with his eyes and not choked out words, things felt off between them.

He figured it was all him.

He was older, more haggard than any other guy she had been with, and he didn't really talk all that much. Hell, he couldn't even tell her that she was the reason he thought shit might work out for them. She was the good in the world that he had forgotten was there.

She called his name, and he turned his head toward where she was sitting on the piano bench. When he met her eyes, she smiled and asked, "Any requests tonight?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Just keep on singin'."

It had become their routine every evening after dinner for him to lay down in the coffin and listen to her soft voice sing songs about love and loss. Most of the songs didn't really have a happy ending. They were just true to life shit that he was getting tired of.

He snorted quietly. He remembered months ago bitching about her and Zach being like some damned romance novel, and now, here he was, eying her from a distance because he was too chicken shit to say anything he was feeling.

That "Oh." hadn't been a complete "Fuck off, hillbilly." So, he let himself believe there might be something there. He just wasn't about to lay himself on the line again to get the truth.

Like every night before, he fell asleep listening to her sweet words and let himself dream that one day, she would sing a happy song because of them.

* * *

><p>A few days passed, and they were running low on food, but neither one of them wanted to leave their little home. Beth felt safe for the first time in a long time, and Daryl was just afraid it would disappear.<p>

He hated that he felt that weak, but hell, once things kept getting taken from a man, he just started waiting for the bottom to fall out.

That evening he was stringing up the security line across the porch steps a little tighter, and Beth walked across the porch and cleared her throat.

"Yeah," he said and looked up at her.

Her cheeks turned pink, and she shook her head before walking away. Daryl stared after her, feeling more confused than ever.

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><p>He was back in his coffin listening to her sing <em>The Parting Glass <em>later that night. She always sung that one when she was sad about her father or sister. Those nights she didn't talk much, and she would go upstairs early and lay down.

Daryl would stay in his coffin and wonder how that little flicker in his chest had turned into butterflies and why the fuck he felt the urge to climb up those rickety stairs and lay down beside her.

When the music faded, he heard her stand up and knew that she was about to go up there and lose herself in her thoughts, just like he did most nights.

Her footsteps moved toward the coffin, though, and he turned his head and looked up at her. With a deep breath, she hitched her leg over the side, and slipped in beside him. Daryl turned a little to give her more room, and once they were facing each other comfortably, she laid her head down on his bicep.

"I'm really not sure how it happened, but I think I'm gonna fall in love with ya," she whispered and touched his cheek with her hand.

"I don't know how either," he whispered and looked down, feeling his heart start racing.

"I know one thang, though," she said and tilted his chin to make him look at her.

"What's that?"

There was nothing but absolute sincerity in her eyes when she said, "I'm really happy it's you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Flame**

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><p>"Beth!" Daryl called out her name as he ran out of the funeral home, dodging walkers left and right. "Beth!"<p>

Once he reached the road, he saw her backpack and his heart stopped. "Oh, fuck no," he whispered and looked around. "Beth!"

That's when he saw a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye right before he heard her voice, "I'm here!"

He picked up their backpack nodded his head toward the woods, trying to ignore the mangy dog she was carrying in her arms. They ran through the night, Beth carrying the dog for a few hours before he took over the job once the sun rose.

"What should we do?" She asked and looked up and down the road they had come to. "I think I know where we are."

"Where?" He asked as he sat the dog on the ground.

"Near Peachtree City, I think." She looked to her left, and Daryl couldn't stop staring at her for several seconds. "My friend, Amber, had grandparents that lived here, and I'd go with her to visit them during tha summer. They were so nice."

"About how big is it?" He asked and shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts from last night.

Since death wasn't barging in the door anymore, he allowed himself to remember just how much he had laid himself out there for her the night before. He was embarrassed and little proud.

"A decent size, I guess. I lived out on tha farm my whole life. It all seems big to me."

He grunted in response and started walking toward down the road. "We gotta find a place to stay for tha night at least."

The moved through the town with quiet steps and hand gestures just like in the woods. Beth had managed to learn quicker than anyone he had ever known when it came to blending into the surroundings.

They passed by two large groups of walkers, never alerting them to their presence even carrying that damn dog with them.

When they reached the other side of town, Beth motioned to a house off of a county road. "That's where they used to live. It was just tha two of 'em. I'm pretty sure that once it got crazy, Amber and her parents tried to make a run for Atlanta to tha safe zones. They mighta gone with 'em."

"Ya mean tha ones that went and got napalmed?" Daryl asked without really thinking.

Beth stared at him in shock. "What?"

He shrugged. "Military went and blew Atlanta to hell. Woulda made Sherman proud."

"I never knew," she whispered. "No one ever told me that."

Daryl walked down the driveway. "Why would they?"

"'Cause I deserve to know," she spoke strongly, and he turned toward her.

"What else do ya think ya should know?" He asked and crossed his arms over his chest. That nasty little dog was seated beside his foot.

"Nothin' off tha top of my head, but I'm an adult. I can be trusted to know thangs. If I don't know how thangs are, how am I supposed to survive."

"Ya got me," he said without thinking. "I ain't gonna let anythin' get close to ya."

She studied him then, and he wondered if he had said too much or if she was thinking about the night before. He felt unsure of himself and looked away.

"Let's get inside," she said softly. "We need to get in and secure tha place before nighttime."

He felt a brief sting of rejection then shrugged it away as quickly as he could. She didn't owe him anything, and she probably thought he was a lovesick dumbass anyway. What the hell did he have for her?

Not a damn thing.

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><p>He was glad the house was clear. Killing walkers wasn't something he ever really looked forward to, but he was truly happy he didn't have to kill any of the people Beth used to know. She had seen that done before with her family and friends at her home then again to her father.<p>

Beth Greene had experienced enough heartache.

"This should work until tomorrow, right? Maybe we can figure out a direction to go?"

Daryl nodded and looked over an atlas he had found in the office. "Where ya wanna go, girl?"

She stood speechless for a good bit before she sat down at the table beside him. "Why do I get to pick?"

Daryl shrugged. "I ain't never been nowhere worth goin' back to."

"Neither have I really."

"Ya gone more places than me."

They stared at the map for a while before Beth scooted her chair closer to his. Their positions the same as the night before except this time there was no food or him trying to find words that wouldn't come.

Just a map.

"We should go where good people are. Where do ya think that is?"

He turned immediately and caught her eye. She didn't look away as he stared her down, wondering if what she meant was what he thought she meant. Finally, he decided to go for it one more time.

"I'm here."

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><p>That night changed things between them. She would walk closer to him and touch him more.<p>

He didn't mind at all, and he tried to do the same, but it never really felt right to be touching her. Not like how he meant the touches.

They were holed up in a house outside of Macon a couple of weeks later when she finally seemed fed up with how slow he was moving.

He had just finished stringing up a security line on the front porch of a hunting cabin when she walked right up to him, popped up on her toes and planted a soft kiss to his lips, taking a little extra time on his bottom lip when she pulled away. He was shocked but that didn't stop his hands from reaching for her as she pulled away.

"I wanna see where this goes," she whispered and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth.

Daryl stared for a beat before nodding. "Yeah."

Her grin was contagious, and he found himself ducking his head to hide his own grin. There was a feeling in his chest that he had never known before.

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><p>The kisses were frequent, so was the handholding and the hugs.<p>

He never initiated it, but she knew he liked it. She had to have known.

They had been on the road for weeks, heading toward the hills of northeast Georgia, and Daryl was getting a little worn down from all the travel and dodging walkers. Beth was getting a little pissy from the choices in food.

It all came to head when they were walking through the woods, looking for a place to set up camp. Daryl pulled her back quickly then stomped his boot down on the head of the rattler near them.

"Dinner," he muttered and bent down to chop off its head while its back end was still squirming trying to get away.

"Oh, great, another snake." She started walking ahead of him, and he looked up at her.

"Hey, dinner's dinner, girl."

"I cain't believe we're back to this."

Daryl picked up the snake and walked toward her. "Listen, ya cain't be no prissy bitch right now. Ain't got time for that shit."

"What did ya just call me?"

"A prissy bitch," he said and took another step toward her. "Ya ain't gotta like it, but ya cain't be bitchin' about it like I could pull through a fuckin' drive-thru for your ass."

Beth's eyes widened and she gasped. "Just 'cause I don't want a damned snake don't mean I'm bein' a bitch."

"Nah," he agreed. "It means you're bein' ungrateful."

"Ungrateful? Ya think I'm ungrateful?"

They were toe-to-toe, and about to start hollering, when she brought both hands around his neck and took his lips in a bruising kiss. Their teeth clacked together as she walked him backward toward the nearest tree. Once his back hit, he twirled her around and pressed his entire body against hers, sliding his tongue with her between their lips.

Her fingers twined into his hair, and he pressed his lower half against her, finally letting her feel just what reaction she brought out—even when she was being a raging harpy.

"What tha hell?" A voice said in complete shock.

He pulled away and blocked Beth's body with his own, only to come face-to-face with his family plus a view others he didn't know.

"Are ya crazy?" Maggie yelled and stepped forward to grab Beth, but Daryl stepped into her path.

"Ya need to watch your step," he said.

"Oh, please," Maggie said and rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna let ya take advantage of my sister."

She tried to grab for Beth again, but Beth laughed and moved away to wrap her arm around Daryl's. "I assure ya, Maggie, Daryl's not doin' anythin' I didn't want him do or have been tryin' to get him to do for weeks."

Beth let go of him and wrapped her arms around her sister. "God, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Me, too, Bethy. I was worried," Maggie whispered with her eyes closed.

Daryl scanned the group, and when his eyes met Carol, he cleared the space between them and hugged her tightly.

"Damn, woman, I thought ya were lost somewhere."

Carol snorted. "Nine lives, remember?"

"Yeah," he said as he took a step back.

"Ya got some explain' to do," she said with a smirk.

Daryl rubbed his chin and felt his cheeks heat up.

"Thank God," she whispered and patted his arm.

Daryl shrugged then walked back to stand beside Beth.

The group looked at them for a moment before Rick cleared his throat. "Well, guess we're all together now. Y'all been okay?"

"Yeah," Beth said with a smile. "We've been on tha move a lot."

"We got caught by cannibals that were callin' an old rail station home," Carl said with a shrug.

"What?" Beth's voice was a level too high for most people to hear, and Daryl moved a step closer to her, touching his shoulder with hers.

"Where y'all headed," Rick asked, ignoring what Carl had said and eyeing them a little.

"Just movin' until we found a place to stay." Daryl answered and Rick nodded.

"We heard that Virginia has a safe zone. We were gonna head that way."

He looked to Beth, and she nodded.

With no words, their course had been set.

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><p>Alexandria was nice.<p>

It was clean and walled up. They each had jobs and apartments, but it was so structured and organized that Daryl felt like he was in a prison.

Beth fit right in, and he was a little jealous of the way she got used to the city around her. She worked in a school during the day teaching little kids music, and he worked the wall, making sure all those walkers stayed out.

Turned out, where there were a lot people, there were a lot of walkers. Regardless how little sound they made or how the lights went out at dark every night.

When they first arrived in the safe zone, Daryl had held Beth's hand as they were guided down the street to the apartment building they would all be staying at. Once they got there, Maggie had pulled her away, saying that she could stay in the two-bedroom apartment with her and Glenn.

Beth shrugged and took his hand again. "Looks like we're livin' with my sister."

Maggie had turned a shade of red he had never thought possible before telling them absolutely not. They could stay in their own apartment. It was in his DNA to smirk and through an arm over Beth's shoulder, so when he did it, it didn't surprise him, but it sure surprised everyone else.

Turned out he could be a possessive dick on top of being a regular gruff asshole, too.

The man assigning them to their homes didn't bat an eyelash at the move, just wrote down Daryl and Beth's names and showed them to the next door.

Once inside their little apartment, Beth turned to him with a big grin. "Looks like I'm livin' in sin."

"Pretty sure tha sign outside said _The Manor_."

Beth's grin cracked, and she laughed as she threw her arms around his neck.

"I feel like we just got through runnin' a race, and now we're at tha finish line."

"I don't know about that," he muttered. "Seems like shit always pops up."

Beth kissed his cheek and pulled away. "I've got ya, though, right?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don't know why ya want me."

"I've never wanted anyone else."

And that little spark inside of his chest, turned into a flame at her words.


	3. Chapter 3

**Waitin'**

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><p>They had gotten out of Terminus, but he still hadn't found her.<p>

Everyone seemed to notice that something was off with him, and most of them kept it to themselves, but the more he turned inward, the more Carol was on his ass about it.

He snapped at her more than once, but she kept pushing. Finally, he had enough and turned on her one evening when they were setting up the security lines for camp.

"Just what tha fuck do ya want me to say, woman?"

Carol shook her head. "I want ya to tell me what happened with Beth."

"Not a damned thang," he answered honestly. "We never had tha fuckin' time for nothin' to happen. One minute there was a chance, and tha next minute she was gone."

That seemed to finally register with her because she reached out and hugged him softly. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

After several seconds of silence, Daryl curled his arms around her and squeezed her back. "Me, too."

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><p>The weeks and miles ran together, but he would remember the day he stood at the Georgia state line forever. The rest of the group passed over the imaginary boundary, and he stood there, feet planted, unable to move.<p>

It didn't seem right or fair that they were leaving her behind like that, but there wasn't a damn thing to go on. Not one other car with a white cross to be seen. He took a deep breath and willed himself to move forward, not for himself, but for her.

The first step was the hardest, but every step after got easier.

He wondered if it was because he left something of himself back in Georgia where he left her.

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><p>Alexandria was a shithole.<p>

Not really.

It was okay.

The group split in half and most of the old group stuck together, except for Maggie and Glenn who went to stay with the newer people.

Daryl would sit and watch them, and they way they interacted with the other people. He wondered if Maggie realized she had replaced Beth with Tara, or even Rick with Abraham.

It was such a seamless transition for them to make, and Daryl figured it must have been easier than the alternative, which was sitting around thinking about how badly everything went wrong.

"Did Rick tell ya that they got beer here?" Carol asked and sat beside him.

"Yeah," he mumbled and slipped the book he had been thumbing through under his pillow.

She had been doing that a lot lately, coming in and checking on him, trying to get him out. She had seen the book a few times before, but she never brought it up. Why would she, though?

He sometimes thought he was stupid for even taking the book from the library they had spent the night at anyway. Who carried a book on surviving child abuse while there were walkers eating people alive? This new world shouldn't have afforded him time to get over his shitty excuse for a father when some people hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to theirs.

"Didn't ya wanna try any?" Carol asked and handed him the extra one she brought with her.

"Not really," he said but took the bottle anyway. "Never liked beer all that much."

"Whiskey?"

Daryl smirked. "Bourbon."

She made and face and stood up. "I know it's hard, but ya gotta get outta this room when ya don't gotta work, Daryl. She wouldn't have wanted ya to waste away."

He slammed the beer down on the bedside table, anger surging through his veins, and glared at her. "Ya don't know what tha fuck she would've wanted. Prolly for me to find her instead of takin' off and runnin' up here."

Carol sighed heavily. "Daryl, she's dead." His skin crawled at her words. "She's probably been that way for a long time. Ya don't need to go down with her."

"Get tha fuck out." His voice wasn't even his own. He sounded cold and hallow. When she didn't move, he stood up and hollered, "I said get tha fuck out!"

With a little shake of her head, she turned and went out of his room and softly closed the door behind herself.

He felt the tears prick his eyes, but he would be damned if he cried anymore. He didn't deserve to shed tears over her. He didn't deserve a way to let the pain out after how he had failed her.

Daryl turned and picked up the bottle of beer and stared at it for a second, remembering her smiling face all drunk on moonshine as the flames flickered in front of them, then he launched the bottle across the room, shattering it against the wall.

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><p>For the most part, everyone stayed away from him after that. Rick would check in on him occasionally, but even Carol kept her distance.<p>

He stopped reading his book, but he kept it on the nightstand so he could punish himself a little more for not seeing it through.

All Daryl did was work the wall, hunt, and sit in his bed. When he got really lonely, he would reach into his pack and pull out Beth's journal that he had found on the side of the road that night.

He hadn't even realized that she had wrote in it when they were at the funeral home, but the first time he had read the last entry, his heart seized up in his chest.

_It's a lovely place. Someone took really good care of it, and I want to stay. I think Daryl does, too. We could be happy here. _

_I think we could be happy together. _

His thumb traced along the words right before he closed his eyes.

Happiness was a fucking joke.

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><p>Winter had set in and Daryl was pulling the night shift on the wall. No one else wanted it, and everyone else had family to get back to. Only the ones that couldn't get out of it were there with him.<p>

He was the only one to volunteer.

If he worked at night, he missed the rest of the group who was active during the day. He figured if he gave it enough time, he could separate himself from them so that they wouldn't even look for him the day he went off into the woods and didn't come back.

The light at the gate flickered, letting him know that someone was approaching. If it went out completely, it meant walkers, but this was a standard deal.

People who had been on the road, probably a family, more than likely starving half to death. They would get ushered inside, warmed up, fed, put in a house, and given a job. Then all would be right in their in little world.

He shouldered his bow and said, "I'll go down and make sure it's okay."

The younger man that was on watch with him, nodded, happy that he didn't have to leave the warmth of his thick wool blanket.

Once he was down the ladder and walking to the gate, he moved his crossbow to his side. There was always the off chance that something could go wrong, and he liked to be prepared.

"Just tha two of ya?" The gate guard asked.

Daryl moved from the shadows as the visitor spoke. "Yeah, just me and tha young lady."

He snorted and shook his head. It wasn't uncommon anymore at all to see people hook up to survive.

"Name?" The guard asked.

"Morgan Jones," the man said strongly and waved his arm behind him toward his traveling partner.

The name seemed familiar to Daryl, but it was almost like the knowledge hung on the outside of his memory. He knew it, but he couldn't grab it.

"Beth. Beth Greene."

Her voice caused his muscles to lock.

"Where'd y'all come from?" The guard asked and waved them into the light of the lanterns.

"Georgia," she said quietly as she walked out of the darkness.

The moment the firelight glinted off her hair, he stumbled forward and hit his knees, all the air gone from his lungs. Every single person turned to stare at him, but when she caught his eyes, she gasped and took off running toward him.

"I thought I'd lost ya," he whispered into her shoulder. "I ran and ran, but I couldn't find ya."

He didn't remember what happened with Morgan or where he was taken to for housing, he just gripped Beth's hand, afraid she would disappear and led her back to the house he shared with the others.

They were all asleep, and he walked her right into his room.

Once inside, she looked around and shook her head. "Haven't ya been here awhile?" He nodded. "Where's all your stuff?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don't need much." He cleared his throat as she walked around the room. "What happened?"

Beth looked over at him with a sad smile. "Just some bad people who thought they were good."

That was the first time he noticed that scars on her face, one slashing across her cheek and the other over her eyebrow.

"What tha fuck?" He crossed the room and touched her face. "Who tha hell did this?"

Beth closed her eyes. "She's dead now. I didn't pull tha trigger, but I certainly set her up for it."

"Huh?"

"Walker," she said quietly. "Another girl had killed herself in her office, so I sent her right in and walked tha other direction and got down an elevator shaft then out into downtown Atlanta."

"What tha fuck," he whispered and leaned his head against her shoulder. "Atlanta? Ya were in tha city?"

She nodded. "They took people that they thought were weak and made 'em indentured servants, I guess ya could say. We did tha most menial jobs ya can think of. Then somewhere along tha way it turned into somethin' worse for some of tha women." He jerked his head back to look at her. She just shook her head. "Not me, but it was close. If it makes ya feel better, I knocked him out with a glass jar full of suckers and then that walker chewed out his throat."

"Then ya sent another woman in there?" He asked, confused by everything that was going on.

"Yeah." She nodded and stepped away. "I found Morgan a few weeks later."

Daryl nodded. "Y'all ain't together or nothin', right?"

Beth laughed and looked at him like he was insane. "Nah, Morgan's a really good man. He's a bit off, but very kind. He told me he was lookin' for Rick, and I asked if I could tag along."

She went and sat down on his bed, leaning back against the headboard.

"Who do ya stay here with?"

"Rick, Michonne, Carol, Carl and Judith."

"I told ya that ya'd find 'em," she said with a grin. For a second it slipped before she asked, "Maggie?"

"She's at another house with Glenn. They met some people after tha prison, and they stick with them now."

Her brow furrowed, but she didn't ask anything else. She turned and looked to her right and tilted her head. It took him a few beats before he realized what she was looking at.

"Oh, Daryl," she whispered and looked up at him. Immediately, his defenses went up, but Beth scooted closer to him and laid her had on his chest as she hugged him. "That's a big deal."

"Don't really wanna talk about it," he muttered as he tried to unclench his fists.

"Ya don't have to," she whispered.

After a couple of minutes of squeezing the life out of him, she let go and laid back on his pillow. With every second he let himself get lost in the sight of her, each breath he took felt like a real one, and the weight on his chest seemed to ease up.

"What've ya been doin' while I was gone?" She asked with her eyes closed and a small grin on her lips.

"Just waitin' and doin' what ya said I would."

"What?" Beth opened her eyes and looked at him, but he just shrugged and looked away. "C'mon, ya cain't leave me hangin' like that."

With every ounce of courage he had, he looked her right in the eye and said, "I missed ya really fuckin' bad."

She didn't miss a beat as she reached out and took his hand. "I missed ya so freakin' much while I was gone."


End file.
